The Big East is standing still, getting killed

The next move in the ongoing game of conference realignment has been made.

And the Big 12 made it.

Which is why the Big 12 seems poised to survive in this eat-or-be-eaten world of college athletics while the Big East continues to get picked apart by anybody and everybody. Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced last month that they're leaving for the ACC; that took the Big East down to seven football-playing schools. Now TCU, according to my colleague Brett McMurphy, is headed to the Big 12 and leaving the Big East with just six football-playing schools ... at least one of which (Connecticut) has made it clear it would like to find a new home, too. Meantime, the Big East has done nothing of note. The league is just sitting there taking punches to the face, one after another, and, consequently, sooner or later, it'll be down for the count and in no position to adequately recover.

The possible additions of Army and Navy won't fix the Big East's problems.

At this point, I can't imagine anything really will.

What the Big East should've done is tried to take advantage of the Big 12's turmoil last month and offered invitations to any Midwest school willing to leave the Texas-Oklahoma fight behind. It might not have worked, obviously. But if we've learned anything over the past few years it's that one way to strengthen yourself is to damage the competition, and that's something the ACC highlighted when it targeted Pittsburgh and Syracuse. The Big 12, under new leadership, also understands this approach. But the Big East never has and apparently never will. So it can add Army and Navy if it wants, and perhaps East Carolina, Temple, UCF and SMU, too. But the decision to be reactive rather than proactive has put the Big East in a nearly impossible situation, and, truth be told, the storied league has only itself to blame.

Post Deleted by Administrator

Since: Nov 2, 2006

Posted on: October 9, 2011 12:32 pm

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

If South Florida and Rutgers want to leave, let them leave. Good riddance to TCU, they should've never been in the Big East to begin with. If you're west of the Mississippi River, you don't belong in the Big East.

If the Big East had Penn State, I can live with their awful basketball program. But I don't want an awful basketball program for a mediocre football program and that's what South Florida and Rutgers are.

Since: Jan 16, 2011

Posted on: October 8, 2011 10:05 pm

BE commisioner, Providence guy, is brilliant

He is forcing all football schools to volunteerly leave BE. Then he can build a basketball only conference. It is all along what basketball schools want. And this is the only way to keep Big East name for them.

Since: Sep 5, 2011

Posted on: October 8, 2011 7:25 pm

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

Based upon the history of the Big East……..a little satire:

October 6, 2021 - BREAKING NEWS REPORT

Big East commissioner John Marinatto said member schools are committed to building a conference stronger than it has ever been. Therefore a call has been made to the basketball only schools in the Big East asking for their participation in forming a committee to research options due to rumors that TCU will not join the Big East as a football playing member.

The acting committee president, the AD from Providence, said "First we have to figure out what is meant by "football playing school". Then we have to discover why the Big East should care. We just need to do this, before moving forward on these terrible rumors about football being played in the Big East. As we all know, anything that isn't basketball doesn't matter."

++++++++++++++++++ end satire

Some conferences can expand and still keep their reputation. But as the ACC adds BE teams, at what point does it become the BE? And as the BE replaces lost teams by adding C-USA teams, at what point does it become C-USA?

Since: Sep 5, 2011

Posted on: October 8, 2011 7:00 pm

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

When it comes to conference realignment, officials are as honest as politicians are frugal with the truth. You are a fool to trust them.

As my old boss used to say a lot “You trusted me? I don’t have a problem, you do.” Obviously the “gentlemen agreement” not to raid other conferences that the BE commissioner believed in, is not believed by anyone else involved in those transactions.

While the BE counted the pennies it got for BE basketball, dollars starting going to football playing schools due to the BCS. Other conference realized this. And other conferences understood that the BE didn’t. So the other conferences have gone after the tv markets of the BE football playing schools. Who can blame them?

Just hard to believe how many BE officials are so clueless about how things work. Having BE schools that play football means the BE schools are in the news year-round. Not just during basketball season.

Since: Nov 16, 2006

Posted on: October 8, 2011 2:13 pm

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

Are you referring to that ALLIANCE (pre-bcs) Fiesta Bowl hammering you got from Kansas State, when everyone outside of Syracuse and Philly saw what a fraud that McNabb really was?

Since: Oct 6, 2006

Posted on: October 8, 2011 1:29 pm

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

Good try but the 1998 orange bowl was Nebraska vs tennesee. Just because UTs colors are orange doesn't mean you can claim them.

It was the 1998 season when Syracuse played in their last BCS bowl. The game took place in 1999. This however, helps my argument more than yours though. How many teams have won National Championships in both sports? Not too many. Syracuse and Pitt will be bringing their 10 football NCAA Championships to the ACC

Since: Sep 10, 2011

Posted on: October 8, 2011 1:06 pm

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

Umm, actually, 1998 (season) Orange Bowl was in fact Cuse vs Florida, with FLA winning 31-10. Listen, as a Cuse alum, and am pretty sure the vast majority of Cuse fans will agree with me, that none of us would brag about Syracuse's football program at the moment and would never consider ourselves a top tier football program, but we do have a rich history and have some very succesful years. Unfortunately, the hiring of Greg Robinson in 2005 set this program back about a decade.

You gotta understand that the Syracuse football program was independent until 1990, so the school never had a chance to build up intense rivalries (except Penn State until that ended in 1991) or come up in a strong conference. In the short history of the Big East Football Conference, Syracuse was champion or co-champion four times (96 - 98 & 2004), and that included years with Va Tech and Miami in the conference. Let's face it, the ACC did not invite Syracuse on the merits of it's football program, but Syracuse does have strong academics and a top tier basketball program, not to mention a fantastic lacrosse team, but that is for another forum altogether.

If you don't like Syracuse, that is fine, but don't just label us a a joke just because we haven't lived in a big time conference for the past 50-60 years. I think we can at least agree on the fact that realignment and the Big East is a joke. For me personally though, the one thing I will really miss is the Big East BBall Tourney in the Garden.

Since: Sep 16, 2010

Posted on: October 8, 2011 11:26 am

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

Good try but the 1998 orange bowl was Nebraska vs tennesee. Just because UTs colors are orange doesn't mean you can claim them.

Since: Sep 16, 2010

Posted on: October 8, 2011 11:19 am

The Big East is standing still, getting killed

What have you done for me lately. Syracuse hasn't sniffed a bcs game in football in the big east, and they won't in the acc either. I don't care what you did half a century ago, or whenever it was.
Basketball however Syracuse has a great program, top 10 all time. No arguments there.